Maryville, Tennessee – Over the past few weeks, sheriff’s deputies have taken numerous reports from individuals who have received phone calls from criminals who are using the names of legitimate sheriff’s deputies and telling them that they will be arrested if they don’t pay thousands of dollars due to missed jury duty, an outstanding warrant, and various other reasons. A majority of these individuals realize this is a scam call, but some individuals don’t know any better, and they become victims of these criminals, sending them thousands of dollars that they will likely never see again.
Most of these phone calls sound convincing! In this case, the criminal posing as a Sheriff’s deputy left a call back number that is likely Google generated. If you receive a phone message like this, do NOT call them back!
The criminal will often use the name of current Sheriff’s deputies, and at times these criminals spoof the Sheriff’s Office main phone line to make it appear even more legitimate. We have reiterated many times that though Sheriff’s deputies call individuals about routine Sheriff’s Office business, deputies will never call someone to tell them they will be arrested and must send money because they’ve missed jury duty, or have an outstanding warrant, or for any other reason. Here are some other warning signs to look for:
• We will NEVER ask an individual to withdraw thousands of dollars from the bank to give to an individual who comes to their home. We will NEVER ask you over the phone to pay fines by way of gift cards, by way of a bitcoin machine, or any other means.
• If you know you owe money for fines, citations, or anything else court-related, the Blount County Sheriff’s Office does NOT collect these fines. These fines are collected by the Blount County Court Clerk’s office, and these fines are paid IN PERSON at the Blount County Court Clerk’s office located in the Blount County Justice Center.
• These criminals also often use ride share drivers to “collect” the money and will deliver the package to another address, often times out of state. If a ride share driver shows up at your door to pick up a package after you’ve had phone interaction with someone claiming to represent law enforcement, take that as a clue that this is NOT a legitimate transaction.
• If you receive a phone call similar to the one that we’ve shared with this post, or that seems remotely suspicious, you can call the Sheriff’s Office mainline at 865-273-5000 to confirm that it is a legitimate phone call. Chances are, it’s a scam.
• Phone scams come in many forms, and not all are related to someone posing as a law enforcement officer. Deputies recently took a report from someone who received a call saying she’d won a vehicle and needed to pay $10,000 to take delivery of the vehicle. This, too, is a scam!
Bottom line:
Unless you have a face-to-face conversation with a uniformed deputy of the Blount County Sheriff’s Office (or another local law enforcement agency), or if you already know that you have a pending case or current business with the Sheriff’s Office or the Blount County Court Clerk’s office and you are familiar with the deputy or the Court clerk you are speaking with, use extreme caution and assume the caller is attempting to steal your hard-earned money.
Unfortunately, a few local citizens have fallen victim to these scammers, losing thousands of dollars of their hard-earned income and lifelong savings. Sheriff’s investigators are looking into and collecting evidence in regard to several recent scams.
We have begged our followers to share this information with loved ones and friends. We realize that not everyone follows our Facebook page or has access to the Internet or watches the daily news. We are asking you again to share this with our most vulnerable citizens. It’s impossible for us to reach everyone with these posts, so Sheriff James Berrong is imploring you to SHARE this information and take the time to have important conversations with your loved ones so they do not become victims.
And remember, you can call 865-273-5000 to confirm that an individual you’ve received a phone call from works for the Sheriff’s Office and needs to speak with you.
Please listen to the attached phone message left by a scammer on the phone of a local citizen and familiarize yourself with the messaging left by scammers.